March 24th - Dodging traffic with the best of them

Katmandu traffic is ridiculous. There are no signs or symbols, people just drive. You really need to have eyes in the back of your head to watch all of the cars, bicycles and scooters. We spent the majority of the day avoiding traffic while shopping for some last minute items for the beginning of our trek.

I clearly need to work on my negotiation skills. I needed some sandals for the trail and hiked over to a local market to buy some. I managed to get some for 300 rupees (approx $5) but was unable to negotiate lower. A six foot tall white guy in a Wisconsin hat tends to stick out and not get much of a discount.

Mike and I in our hotel room by candle light due to the lack of electricity

After some shopping, we met our guide and porter. Mad props to Blaine and Bethany for doing the leg work to get us set ahead of time. They were in Katmandu a couple of days ahead of us and were able to scout out a guide and porter so we weren’t limited to taking one of the ones that people hawk all over the street. We also got our permits out of the way before heading back to pack. Packing was hindered by the lack of power until 9:30. The power outages are caused by Katmandu not being able to provide enough power to their citizens. It’s also a major reason of the deep haze that envelops the city because people run generators when the power goes out, which just adds to the pollution.